After a beat, Phoebe fearfully spread her fingers apart. "Piper?"
"Good witches don't freeze," Piper whispered, crying. Phoebe ran to her and Paige, and the sisters embraced.
"'Kay, how about we reunion later and get out of here now?" Paige suggested.
"Good idea. Pheebs, how are you getting home?" Piper inquired.
"I've got a separate spell, since my current -- um, past -- oh whatever. The body I'm used to is in the attic, that's what I'm trying to say," Phoebe explained.
Piper and Paige nodded. "Makes sense," said Paige. "Why don't you go first, and we'll follow?"
"No," responded Phoebe, "you guys should go first." "But then we'd be leaving you alone. What if you need a Power of 3 boost?" Paige asked.
"I don't. But you might -- I tweaked this from when Grams wrote it for us, but you might still need me. Besides..." Phoebe trailed off.
"What," said Piper, in a tone that was more a command than a question.
"...Besides, I'm not entirely sure I can get back alive. But I think it'll work," Phoebe continued breathlessly, at her sisters' worried looks. "And you guys can always 'Call a Lost Witch' when you get home if I don't show up. Plus, those demons are going to be back here soon, and if they catch you out of the cage without me here, that's not gonna be good."
"Don't waste any time, sis," instructed Paige.
"I won't. Don't you, either!" Phoebe replied.
Piper and Paige began reading the spell Phoebe had written for them:
Two witches moved by evil
Through time and through space
This future no longer before us,
Now restore us
To our rightful place.
A swirl of white orbs surrounded them, then faded away, leaving nothing. "Oh, thank G-d," Phoebe whispered. "Okay, my turn. Here goes nothing..."
Remove the chains of time and space
And make my spirit soar
Let these mortal arms embrace
The life that haunts before.
Nothing happened. Phoebe could feel her evil consciousness just on the edges of her perception. She could feel, rather than hear, the vicious, taunting laughter.
"Okay, how about this..."
In this time and in this place,
Destroy the spirit I displaced
Return me to those I hold most dear
Send me home, leave nothing here
Again, nothing. "Strike two," Phoebe muttered. The evil consciousness was moving in closer, getting stronger. "Third time's the charm, right?"
Evil soul I once embraced
I choose now a different time and place
You cannot sap my will to fight
For goodness fills me with its light
If I die with you, so it be
Your evil cannot conquer me
Death takes your future with this spell
You cannot be this Halliwell!
For a moment, nothing happened, as the two consciousnesses struggled for control. Demons began returning to the Chamber, and looked on in confusion as their Queen stood before the empty cage, jerking back and forth, as if fighting an unseen enemy. Phoebe knew she didn't have enough strength to repeat the spell while fighting her evil consciousness. "I won't let her win," Phoebe thought. "I won't let my sisters or Leo down like that." Suddenly, a brilliant white light overwhelmed her. In a final conscious moment, she thought to herself, "Heaven's a white light, that must be why they call them..."
* * *
In the attic, Leo, Piper, and Paige watched silently. The crystals had flared up when Phoebe had displaced her evil consciousness shortly after she'd left, and the torturous screams had been almost unbearable for Leo. When Piper and Paige returned, he had hugged each of them tightly, but still kept a wary eye on the figure in the crystal cage.
Without warning, the screaming had stopped, and the crystals had died down. "Phoebe?" asked Piper urgently.
"She's not there, honey," Leo told her. "This is how she was at first, when she left but before her evil self came in."
Piper and Paige held hands tightly. Although Leo was Piper's husband, in these moments of horror while she silently begged all the Higher Powers she could think of to return her sister safely, she needed the comfort that only another sister could provide.
"We won't lose her," Paige said. "She'll come back to us. She's strong, stronger than even she realizes."
"...Whitelighters," came a weak whisper.
"Phoebe!" cried Piper joyously. Paige was already removing the crystals, leaning in to give her middle sister a gentle hug. Piper joined her, and together they carefully lifted Phoebe up and sat her on the worn leather chair.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Paige brushed a lock of hair out of Phoebe's face with concern.
"Yeah, I think so," Phoebe said, sounding tired. She described what had happened. "I couldn't beat her, vanquish her, until I accepted out loud that I once wanted to be her. And more importantly, that I didn't want that anymore, that I had faith in my own goodness."
Leo smiled at her. "I'm proud of you. You were very brave, and very strong."
"Thanks, Leo," she answered with a smile.
"Hey -- what were you saying about Whitelighters, when you first woke up?" Piper asked, curious.
Phoebe blinked, and then remembered what she'd feared had been her final thought. "Oh...I saw a white light, and I figured out that's why they call them Whitelighters."
Paige gave her a look. "You're just figuring this out now?"
"What, you expected me to have a deep, philosophical last thought? All I could think about was how much I loved you guys, and how I couldn't let evil Phoebe come here...and then there was the white light! Whaddya want from me, huh?" Phoebe said, hitting Paige playfully.
Unnoticed by any of the four living beings in the attic, the Book of Shadows glowed briefly. Had someone looked through it, she would have seen a new spell: "How to Vanquish an Inner Demon."
THE END